Hey, everyone. Back with another chapter.

So, this chapter is going to cover both the landings on Utah Beach and the assault on Pointe du Hoc.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 7- Utah and Pointe du Hoc

(0638 local time, Pointe du Hoc)

In one of the landing craft slowly approaching Pointe du Hoc, Army Captain Jake Whitehall watches as Pointe du Hoc slowly approaches. His adrenaline is rushing as they approach the peninsula.

The force put together to assault Pointe du Hoc was drawn from both the Army and Navy. The strike force includes four platoons of Rangers, numbering 160 men, from the 1st Ranger Battalion, and one Navy SEAL task unit of 40 men. In addition to these men coming in from the sea, two more platoons of SEALs (16 men each) will be carried in by Sea Stallion helicopters, which will be accompanied by a pair of SuperCobra attack helicopters. The plan is for the SEALs to be landed atop Pointe du Hoc first in a quick insertion by the helicopters. The SuperCobras would make a high speed run to prevent the Germans from firing at the helicopters. The SEALs will secure the edges of the cliffs to cover the Rangers and SEALs coming in on the landing craft and allow them to scale the cliffs more safely.

Whitehall looks down at his watch, then at Pointe du Hoc. They have two minutes to go until the landing craft reach the shore. Right then, Whitehall hears the rumble of helicopter rotors. Looking up, he sees the Sea Stallions and SuperCobras flying overhead at full speed, headed straight for Pointe du Hoc.

The SuperCobras fly ahead of the Sea Stallions, weapons armed. As they reach Pointe du Hoc, they realize that the peninsula has already been hit pretty well. They had not heard about the Strike Eagles hitting Pointe du Hoc during the night, and the bombardment by the Navy had caused additional damage. However, there are still machine gun nests and other threats to the incoming Sea Stallions.

The SuperCobras slow down as they reach Pointe du Hoc. Nosing over slightly to aim at the ground, the helicopter pilots squeeze the triggers, spraying 20mm cannon fire and Hydra 70 rockets down onto rocky terrain below. The Germans try and fire back with some machine guns, but only one of the SuperCobras suffers relatively light damage, and the machine guns are quickly silenced by the SuperCobras.

The Sea Stallions are only seconds behind. Flying in to the end of the promontory, the two helicopters lower to just two feet off the ground. As the Sea Stallions settle into a hover, the SEALs leap out of the helicopters, hitting the ground running and rushing towards the German positions. As the last SEAL leaps out of his helicopter, the Sea Stallions lift up again and turn away, flying back out to the fleet. The SuperCobras fire a few more rockets down onto the Germans, then turn and fly back to the fleet before the Germans can really concentrate any fire on them.

The Germans realize that Americans have been landed at the top of the cliffs, but are also being kept a little off guard as the SEALs keep up rifle fire on the German positions. The Germans, seeing how accurate the American commandos are firing, mostly are ducking for cover. The SEALs move carefully up to the cliffs and take up positions to get the stretch of cliff that the Rangers and other SEALs are going to use to get up. Many of them settle into prepared machine gun nests, a number of which had had living German occupants only moments ago before they were gunned down by the SEALs.

At almost the same time, the landing crafts reach the shore. Lowering their ramps, the Rangers and SEALs hurry out of the landing craft and up to the cliffs. Unlike in the original version of history, not a shot is being fired at them, thanks both to the air strikes by the Strike Eagles and helicopters and the fact that the advance SEALs are holding the top of the cliff.

Reaching the bottom of the cliff, the comandos fire up grappling hooks and lines and begin laying ladders against the cliff. As the grappling hooks reach the top of the cliff, a few SEALs ensure that the hooks are able to secure to something to allow the men below to climb the ropes.

Whitehall tests a ladder to make sure it is relatively sturdy, then he calls out and shouts, "Let's move boys!" He then grasps a rung on the ladder and starts climbing. The rest of the Rangers and SEALs also begin climbing the ladders and ropes. These men have trained for exactly this, and are able to move quickly.

Within a matter of minutes, all of the commandos are atop the cliffs. The leader of the force, a Lieutenant Colonel from the Rangers, calls out, "Let's get 'em boys!" With a chorus of yelling, the Ranger and SEALs charge towards the German positions.

The Germans now realize that the Americans have landed a much larger force than they first thought, and quickly begin to return fire at the Rangers and SEALs. However, with over a third of the German troops present on Pointe du Hoc the previous day dead from the Strike Eagles and helicopters, their resistance is not strong enough, especially in an attack by highly trained American commandos.

Two of the Rangers leap into a trench in front of a German pillbox that is pouring machine gun fire towards them. The two wait for a minute, then one of them pops up, aims his M16 assault rifle, and fires into the gap the machine guns are pointed out of, killing oner of the German gunners inside. The other then throws a grenade into the gap, killing the remaining Germans.

The SEALs and Rangers advance as quick as they can across Pointe du Hoc, gunning down any German in their path. With this attack being carried out by some of America's finest commandos, the Germans are quickly falling. At the same time, the men already on the ground can see a pair of Chinook helicopters approaching. The Chinooks are each carrying a Humvee meant to help support the commandos, as well as a dozen more Rangers in each helicopter as reinforcements.

Already, the Americans can see that Pointe du Hoc is almost within their hands. And with the reinforcements coming, they can hopefully hold out until the troops on the beaches can link up with them and relieve them.

(0645, Utah Beach)

In the lead landing craft approaching Utah Beach, Brigadier General Jack Schneider, the assistant division commander of the 4th Infantry Division, watches the beach approach.

The attack on Utah Beach had been modified by the commanding Generals. There were two divisions assigned, the 4th Infantry Division and the 1st Marine Division. The 4th Infantry would attack the original intended landing site, while the 1st Marine would attack the section of the beach where 4th landed in the original version of history, in the less heavily defended section. This was decided given the 4th had heavier armor, and was deemed more capable of attacking the more heavily defended part of the beach.

The leading landing craft, comprised of LCAC's and LCU-2000s, approach Utah Beach. Thankfully, here in Utah, even more so than at Omaha, the defenses had been hit hard by air attacks. Bombings the previos night had done damage, and then A-10s from the 353rd Tactical Fighter Squadron and A-6 Intruders from the Theodore Roosevelt had already attacked the German positions. Several flights of A-10s were still on hand to help with close air support, as well as Army Apaches and Marine Corps Harriers.

However, there are still a number of German defenders ready to try and halt the impending attack. A number of Germans wait for the landing craft to reach the shore.

The LCAC's reach the shore first and drop their ramps, unloading four M1s. Within another minute, the -2000s hit shore, lowering their ramps and offloading 15 more M1s, 16 M3 Bradleys, and a dozen Humvees.

The Germans begin to panic slightly as they realize that unlike in previous invasions, the Americans are leading with very heavy armor units, bigger and more powerful than any tanks or armored units they've ever seen.

The M1s roll onto the beach and open fire with their main guns. A volley of HEAT rounds impact the back of the beach, killing a number of Germans. With the relatively flat terrain at Utah, unlike the hilly Omaha, the German defenses are seriously exposed. This is followed up by an attack run by a pair of A-10s, strafing the German defensive positions.

The Germans, although well prepared, are well understrength to resist the landings, with only a few thousand troops placed to defend this section of the beach.

The next wave of landing craft begin to hit the beach, bringing with them hundreds of troops and a few Humvees. Among the men coming ashore is General Schneider. As he runs out of the landing craft alongside his men, Schneider realizes that although there are thousands of German troops placed in this area, they have no raised defenses, and he comes up with a plan. He quickly picks up his radio and calls over the division's frequency, "All units currently ashore. All tanks, Bradleys, and Humvees currently ashore are to charge the enemy lines and overrun them, literally. Get across their lines and wreak havoc. Understood?!"

Within a matter of seconds, one of the M1s that had come ashore revs its engine and heads straight for the German lines at almost 30 miles an hour. The German soldiers in its path begin to panic as they see the tank bearing down on them. A number of Germans fire machine guns towards the Abrams, but the bullets just bounce off the tank. The tank commander pops out onto the outside of the tank and starts firing at the Germans with the machine gun mounted on top of the turret. One German soldier after the other falls as the rounds from the machine gun tear into them.

Within a minute, the tank runs right over the German lines, crushing a soldier under its tread. The tank then slows down and swivels the turret around, firing a HEAT round into a German machine gun nest.

Within a matter of moments, more tanks, along with Bradleys and Humvees, make it across the German lines. The Germans begin to panic, with infantry to their front and armored vehicles to their rear, they are trapped between a rock and a hard place.

Many German troops begin to surrender, recognizing that they are faced with a far superior force. Others stubbornly try to fight on, but many are quickly killed by artillery fire from tanks and bombs and rockets from a formation of Harriers.

As the 4th is landing, the 1st Marine Division has landed on the less defended portion of the beach. LCAC's and LCU-2000s reach the shore, which is almost unencumbered with obstacles and drop their ramps. A dozen M1 tanks and 10 M48 Patton tanks roll off the landing craft, with LAV-25s and M113s following seconds later. Hundreds of Marines rush ashore behind the armored vehicles, yelling all the while.

The handful of defenders placed in this area desperately fire their rifles and machine guns towards the Marines. However, many of them are quickly killed either by Apaches flying overhead or fire from the Marine tanks. Within 10 minutes, the Marines have secured the beach and begun to move inland.

Offshore, the commander of the 4th Infantry, Major general Dennis Reimer, watches the reports coming in from Utah. The 1st Marine Division has already begun moving inland, and the 4th has pretty much seized control of Utah Beach.

Looking over the situation, he decides to proceed as planned, and issues the orders. The 1st Marine Division quickly begins to turn the bulk of the division to the west, heading up the peninsula towards Cherbourg. Eisenhower had stated that he wanted Cherbourg captured quickly before the Germans could destroy its port facility. A single regiment from the 1st Marine will remain behind to guard the beachhead and wait to link up with units from the 101st Airborne. Meanwhile, the 4th Infantry was to head straight inland, with the intent to capture several towns closer to the beach and link up with the 82nd Airborne.

The landings at Utah had gone even better than expected. The armored charge at the 4th Infantry's section of beach, and the overall terrain of Utah, had proved to be incredibly helpful. Utah will prove to be the most successful landing of the invasion, with men already moving inland at a great pace.

And, I'll end the chapter there.

So, Utah still went very good in this timeline, even with one of the divisions landing at the "right beach". And Pointe du Hoc was a much greater success in this version. Also, in this timeline, the 4th Infantry help to cut off Pointe du Hoc from counter attack and relieve the commandos without them suffering so many casualties.

Alright. Next chapter will be Gold Beach. Until then, please leave a review, and stay tuned!